Three snaps up extra 4G frequency spectrum

18 Aug 2015 by James Rogerson

Three has just added to its 4G spectrum holdings, by purchasing some L-Band (1452-1492MHz) frequency from Qualcomm.

The American company itself bought the spectrum back in 2008, having planned to launch a UK mobile television service, but since shelved those plans. The purchase still worked out in its favour though, as it paid just £8.3 million for the spectrum and now Three is thought to be paying over £100 million.

The spectrum sale still needs to be confirmed by Ofcom and even then it will likely be several years before it can be used, as smartphones and network equipment will first need to be tuned over to L-band frequencies, but in the long run it should be hugely beneficial.

There’s a limited amount of bandwidth yet 4G capacity will need to increase rapidly over the coming years, so buying more spectrum could help enormously, especially in the case of Three which doesn’t have an massive amount of spectrum to begin with.

Qualcomm, which in June confirmed its plans to start selling off chunks of UK spectrum, said: "The European Commission recently voted for the release of L-Band (1452-1492MHz) spectrum throughout the European Union for use as Supplemental Downlink (SDL). Qualcomm believes that SDL can be key to meeting the increase of 4G mobile data traffic globally that is downlink centric."

This is just the latest in a series of positive developments for Three. There’s also its Make It Right campaign, which aims to put customers first and its parent company’s impending purchase of O2, which could transform the mobile landscape.